, back here on earth. top corporate brass meeting with president obama's aides, no surprise, they are cozying up to the president. ed, you are rude when you go to the white house, you speak your -ind, and you are not intimidated. i have interviewed a lot of presidents myself, i am always intimidated. it -- i think what happens. with the ceos, they are shell shocked even for these guys, like the guys in chrysler building they go in there they don't know what to do. >> i'm a very literal person when i get an invite, they tell me they want me to speak my mind, i do, maybe i should be more little bit ily correct. but they are -- politically correct. they are good people are they are great leaders,. neil: has anyone declined? >> the ones that can fige out a raireally good excuse to not , don't go, it is a terrible distraction, their pr people are coaching them, and coaching them. they don't want to say something that will damage the shareholders, so they play the game. neil: you know, a lot of these guys, have said, and women, have been saying, mr. president, we think a deal shoul be struc

magazine mark rubavich. >>> over at the white house president obama has no public events scheduled. meanwhile, over in michigan thousands of union members and supporters are protesting at the state capitol building in lancing. the state, which is the heart of the united autoworkers and ground zero for union rights is poised to sign a major anti-labor bill into law today. the president weighed in on that, speaking yesterday in redford. >> these right to work clause, they don't have anything with economics. they have everything to do with politics. what they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money. america is not going to compete based on low skill, low wage, no workers rights. that's not our competitive advantage. there's always going to be some other country that can treat its workers even worse. >> the house speaker, john boehner, is speaking now on the house floor regarding the fiscal cliff. let's take a listen. >> beyond 1:50 p.m. today. >> the speaker of the house for five minutes. >> the speaker, last week republicans made a serious offer to aver

things that i don't think the republicans today can get done with this obama white house. lou: and are you and i in agreement that the republicans are not in nearly sufficiently strong position, not with the lack of talent, there are some questions about that, but because of the lack f power of the leaders in the house and the role of the house in this negotiation. >> i am not prepared to ay that. i go up to the capitol every week and meet with the republican leaders and listen to them as they talked very openly about what their views are and what they're trying to get done. and i can tell you that they are a lot stronger than they have been presented by the conservative media. the interesting thing about the speaker is to make you look carefully at his proposals, he is never implying that he would increase tax rates. and yet the mentioned the breitbart comments. and that is really not accurate. lou: you know, as a former -- as a distinguished chairman of the house ways and means committee i think you and i would agree, revenue will be taxed, whether it is eliminating loopholes, whethe

occasionally and say it's too bad the congress can't act. neil: all right, if barack obama thought he was going to get a pass from al goron the global climate change warming, whatever they call it these days, not happening. we are here whether this might make the white house move even more quickly on climate change. melissa, what do you think? >> it's funny there's al gore lobbying cocktails at the president from this podium. he said the atmosphere was an open sewer, a fabulous image. incredible. in the speech, i watched the whole thing, he briefly -- neil: you did? >> yeah. he briefly mentioned the people who, you know, lost everything in their lives, no word about the folks on this show and t other show who are still without everything. i mean, he was just focused on using this, you know, as a political jumping off point for climate change. neil: seeinghrgh the ears -- >> that's cruel. neil: form weight -- that i know, mr. mr. vice president, il leave you alone own that. leaving aside how to make a storm to use it as a point, accurately or not, i wonder if the administration to keep the

, the white house team is reporting that it is apparent the gop may not dig in over the fiscal cliff and we may delay the fight. president obama addresses the business roundtable and that could be critical. david has an exclusive interview with ken moelis. back to you guys. >> let's get six in 60. six stocks in 60 seconds. >> yesterday's news overshadowed by many things. a fantastic quarter. we knew it would be household formation buying on weakness. >> 17 straight. number of quarters where they beat it. this was a major miss. >> rbc does not like clf. this is again china. i don't like it either but china is coming back. >> naz 100 taking on facebook. >> money is an index to the naz 100. people paid for this in premarket. it was a mistake. >> citi thinks limited can do a special div. >> limited has a lot of cash. gap said no yesterday. hurt the stock. >> goldman starts utx neutral. great company. a slap in the face, carl. boom. slap in the face. >> you got that right. what's on "mad" tonight? >> i have been featuring these investment -- look, the etf. i've been feeling they know amer

women. president obama got the third spot with his you didn't build that. >>> a petition on the white house website called for congress and the president to forfeit their pay and health care benefits until the fiscal cliff crisis is resolved. the petition has gotten more than 11,000 signatures but 25,000 are needed to get a white house response. >>> president obama will have a private swearing in from justice john roberts on sunday, january 20th. the next day will be the official ceremony and the president's inauguration has decided to start accepting corporate and private donations this time to help play for the parade, the balls, all those other events. >>> west virginia senator joe manson upset about a new reality tv show. he has written a letter to mtv demanding it be canceled. some are calling it the "jersey shore" of appalacia. >> y'all want to swim? >> for young, free and wild. >> that's wild. okay. that's going to do it for your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> the fedex kufl and the best and cheapest travel days of the years coming up. >>> plus, new details surrounding

match. walmart. >>> welcome back for the first time. president obama formally recognized a coalition of syrian opposition groups opening the way for the rebels fighting the regime of assad. the recognition comes as the white house confirms to nbc news that assad is more desperate and started using scud missiles. >> we're made a decision that the syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the syrian people. >> joining me now, deputy editor bobby gauch. does this provide help to the rebels? >> it is not yet clear. the united states did not say it will provide arms. it opens the door wider and the u.s. is coming late to this party. a number of other allies of the united states have given recognition and giving them arms and assistance. the u.s. is among the last reported stamp of approval. >> what are do you think the approval was meat at this point? part the united states has had concern fist are a long time that among the many groups, some have close ties t

, they're at a standstill. now, house speaker john boehner is putting all the blame on president obama. he's upset that the white house quickly rejected boehner's plan. >> there are a lot of things that are possible to put the revenue that the president seeks on the table. none of it is going to be possible. the president insists on his position. insists on my way or the highway. >> president obama is asking congress for more than $60 billion for states affected by superstorm sandy. officials from states hardest hit say the money is just a start. with the fiscal cliff looming the staff is sure to face some resistance on capitol hill. >>> he spoke at this year's democratic national convention as an independent, but now former republican florida governor charlie crist is a proud democrat. crist posted a twitter photo friday showing his registration papers tweeting that he's proud and honored to join the party in the home of president obama. crist ran for the u.s. senate as an independent in 2010, but was defeated by marco rubio. some are speculating this move is in preparation for anothe

, chris. it didn't come from the white house, it didn't come from democrats, it came from senator jim demint. the tea party hero who famously made this vow with the president's health care law. >> if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. it will break him. >> guess what, it wasn't the president's waterlook but today he announced that he's leaving the senate to run a conservative think tank. and just like that, gone is is a man who represented all of the obstruction, the man who defined gridlock and was the face of ugliness in the tea party movement. the night of the president's inauguration, he met with other republicans to plot against the president. he threatened to single handedly shut down the senate in 2010 and stood strong with congressman todd akin after his legitimate rape comments. today's announcement is another line in the tea party obit. it's another nail in the tea party coffin. a movement that vowed to change washington. >> the tea party movement is alive and well. >> it's going to continue to redefine the political landscape in 2012. >> this novembe

. we have obama in the white house. the unions are going whild here. in all seriousness, i don't think unions are any more placid here than they are in china. >> but in china, workers go out on wildcat strikes all the time. foxconn which manufactures about 97% of apple's products, they've been really subject to labor troubles, from suicides to strikes. so i think apple is starting to see that there are some really important economic reasons to manufacturing. they're not the only company doing that. >> is it robots they're going -- i was told that apple is going into a plant in the u.s. that's a robotic plant so american workers aren't really going to be hired. >> last year in foxconn, they had 10,000 robots. if you have robots, china's cost manufacturing advantage is really nil except for chinese consumers. >> as long as we keep drilling for natural gas and we have the shale revolution, that's going to make us more competitive. i'm not making a case for china. i'm just a little interested in the apple case. that's what i'm saying. i'm a little interested in their motives, not too much

the white house that they need to tell the white house to start talking to house republicans. so ceos in the business community right in the middle of this negotiation. >> eamon javers, thank you. >>> john harwood has the latest on mr. obama's big meeting with some of those ceos. john? >> the other way the ceos are in the middle of this is the president appeared before the business roundtable today as part of his effort to continue rounding up support from various constituencies for what he calls a balanced approach. one of the things he pressed was a priority that the head of the business roundtable, john eng r engler, has suggested which is a longer term fix to the debt ceiling problem. remember that it was a catastrophic standoff in mid 2011 that caused the downgrade in u.s. credit. president said he's simply not going to negotiate in the negotiating process that results in the same kind of stand-off. here is the president. >> if congress in any way suggests that they're going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a

tell us something about the obama white house that we don't know. >> what does obama think of mitt romney? what does he really think? and i think he feels that romney is incompetent because he didn't run a better campaign. and i suspect that one of the themes in all the coverage of the campaign is going to be romney never found a way to -- either the method or the theme of how to run against obama. whereas they thought it was going to be easy. >> we're about to give the hook here. what is the one thing you would like to know about president obama that you don't? >> oh, i did ask him this. i didn't put it in the book. he keeps a diary. and so i'd like to have access. [laughter] >> assume that's for -- >> do you keep a diary? yes. not on all this detailed kind of -- let's see it. so that's going to -- i'm sure he will write a really interesting memoir. >> what did he tell you about the diary? >> that it existed. no detail. he didn't offer any of it or read from it or anything like that. i'm -- is it dictated? is it written? you know ronald reagan kept his deiry that was secret. georg

obama's latest plan to accept less tax revenue and sent the exact same offer back to the white house with no changes. >> i don't believe that we've heard anything from the leadership that suggests they have moved off their position. >> i remain the most optimistic person in this town. but we've got some serious differences. >> reporter: federal reserve chair ben bernanke warns gridlock is already affecting the economy. >> why is it that consumer confidence dropped so sharply this week? why is it that small business confidence dropped so sharply? why are the markets volatile. >> reporter: now this is interesting. we're looking this morning at a new analysis from the nga, the national governor's association. they say on average states will lose about 7% of their federal grants if we go over the cliff. but that some states will actually bring in more tax revenue to compensate. other states will bring in less. >> that is interesting. all right. thanks so much. >>> syria is reportedly escalating the conflict with opposition forces by firing scud missiles at rebels. u.s. officials say more than

president obama returns to campaign mode taking the fiscal cliff message to detroit. yesterday the president and speaker boehner met privately at the white house, their first face-to-face meeting since they agreed last week to clear everyone else out of the negotiating room. so what happened? well, neither side revealed anything about the meetings, only saying that the lines of communication remain open. but yesterday another influential republican, senator bob corker from the senate banking commission said his party should consider the president's idea of raising tax rates on the wealthy. >> there is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end. we have one house, that's it. the presidency and the senate is in the democrat's hands. a lot of people are putting forth a theory and i think it has merit where you go in and give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about, the rate increase on the top 2% and all of a sudden the shift goes back to entitlements. i actually am begi

own people. lou: neither the white house or pentagon elaborating on what the cons -- consequences would be, but having russia back them would be a determined outcome made by the promise of president obama in dealing with russia after winning a second term as he remarked to the russian president thinking they were off microphone as they met in south korea back in march. >> after my election, i have more flexibility. >> i understand. i just need permission -- lou: a full report on the disturbing turn of events in syria and the likely price of russian cooperation on syria. another middle east dictator, egyptian leader, morsi, with a concession to the opponents inviting them to hold talks on the crisis. is that enough to appease protesters who plan larger demonstrations tomorrow? we'll be talking with fox news middle east expert while ferris in washington institute fellow eric trager, and president obama back on the campaign trail continuing to successfully dress up his ultimatum on higher taxes as a republican decision rather than his own declaration. his staff organized a sit-down w

, congressional aides say that is simply not happening. in fact, even when president obama and house speaker john boehner were in the same room together like they were last night at the white house holiday reception for congress members, they didn't even speak. the president was asked about that today. >> speaker boehner was here at the white house last night for a christmas party. the two of you didn't even speak. what's it going to take to get the two of you in a room to hash this out? >> well, speaker boehner and i speak frequently, and i think the issue right now -- >> when? when will the two of you sit down in a room? >> you know, i don't think that the issue right now has to do with sitting in a room. >> as i mentioned, the american people want the people they elected to sit down together, work it out. a new gallup poll shows 62% want government leaders to compromise on the fiscal cliff. just 25% said they should stick to their principles. so why is it that this congress and this white house can't seem to get together and compromise on a deal? it certainly isn't the first time republic

economists. my next guest is concerned that we are going over the fiscal cliff. he ys, president obama seeminglyis intent onpressing his post-election advantage to win tax increases on the wlthy and to eliminate the houses debt ceiling leveraged. joining us now from washington d.c., peter wallace, former reagan white house counsel, form member of thefinancial crisis inquiry commission. a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. good to have you here. you believe they're going over the cliff. >> i think their is a re danger of this. one can see a path for obaaa that does not look so terrible if we do go over the cliff. all of the taxes go up, but the democrats have an opportunity to introduce legislation to reduce the taxes for 98 percent of the people leaving the wealthier people, i guess you could call them wealthy, the top two percentage to stay at the high rates. it is possible to do this. lou: it is possible, but i have to ask you, urely the republicans have to understand and had to understand six months ago what what transpired in this lame dk sessi of conress? what thi

. >> indeed. even some of the top minds in conservative circles are waving the white flag of surrender on tax cuts for the top 2%. >> so are you saying then for pr purposes, that they should give into obama on the tax rate? >> not exactly. well, yeah, i guess i am. >> i'm sorry, that was not one of the top conservative minds. that was ann coulter, but you have to and it to her. she's onto something there. a new quinnipiac poll shows 65% of americans support higher taxes on incomes over $250,000. the same survey showing the president's approval rating at a three-year high, 53%. the highest level since the body of osama bin laden was dumped in the north arabian sea. perhaps that's why senate majority leader harry reid felt confident enough to declare that until republicans move on tax rates, more spending cuts are off the table. >> the president made clear, i have tried to make very clear, until there's some movement in tax rates, we're -- i'm not talking about any other proposals, not about where there will be a cut here or a cut there. >> no. as a matter of fact, the only cuts the senate

a very strong lead among white voters but some prominent obama supporters are looking to chip into that and our friend chris rock is one of them. chris rock is from here in brooklyn and tonight, he's recorded a special message for us, targeted specifically at undecided voters of the caucasian variety. so, listen and decide for yourself. >> hi, i'm chris rock with a special message for white people. in times like these, you need a white president you can trust. and that white president's name is barack obama. let's take a look at the facts. for the first two-thirds of his life, barack obama was known as barry. which is the third whitest name on earth. right after cody and jeff. and these are the white people who raised barry. madeline and stanley dunham. they are so white they have to wear sunglasses because they are hurting each other's eyes. after college, barry went into black neighborhoods in chicago to try to organize people. how white is that? black people don't go into black communities. we don't have to. we're already there. look at him. playing golf. body surfing. wearing m

trust. and that white president's name is barack obama. let's take a look at the facts. for the first two-thirds of his life, barack obama was known as barry.he third whitest nam which is the third whitest name on earth. right after cody and jeff. and these are the white people who raised barry. madeline and stanley dunham. they are so white they have to wear sunglasses because they are hurting each other's eyes. after college, barry went into black neighborhoods in chicago to try to organize people. how white is that? black people don't go into black communities. we don't have to. we're already there. look at him. playing golf. body surfing. wearing mom jeans. dancing with ellen. barack obama supports gay marriage. most black men don't even support straight marriage. president obama has a dog. but is it a pit bull? is it a rottweiler? no. it's a portuguese water dog. and he named him bo. after one of the dukes of after one of t let's not forget, barack obama is whiter than snooki, the tanning mom and tara reid. even mitt romney is blacker than obama.ama's family. and these are the ro

. debt ceiling. president obama pushed for the power trance fosform as part of white house plan they unveiled a week ago. fiscal cliff, 26 days away. christine romans explains how going over the cliff could affect you and your family. >> reporter: brooke, here's what the sequester could mean for domestic programs. fewer women and children with assistance and child care aid. cuts to education nearly 100,000 head start spots at risk. more than 25,000 teachers and teachers aids could lose their jobs and science and public research grants could be cut including in to cancer and childhood diseases. fewer americans could receive drug abuse treatment and $700 million slashed from the epa budget. cutting back of food inspection. disaster relief, omb says, quote, the federal emergency management administration's ability to respond would be undermined. and finally, from border patrol to hiring new fbi agents, correction officers, federal prosecutors, all could be scaled back. now, all of these cuts, brooke, don't happen exactly at 12:01 a.m. on january 2nd. they happen over the course of a yea

marriage. joining me is former white house adviser to president obama. also, quoted multiple times in this particular article i was referencing, richard. thank you for joining me. in the article they quote you as saying i think the federalizes the issue much more quickly than the white house would have liked and may force them to take a position earlier than they would have liked. >> right. well, we remember back it was just last may when president obama said that he personally supported the right of americans, same-sex couples, to marry. that was a huge deal. first time a president had everyone done that. the president has been a real leader on gay rights. persons more things than any president before him but he's not said that the u.s. constitution guarantees that right to everyone and every state and because, of his background as a constitutional law scholar, where he stands on this and the justice department stands on this is now very important because the supreme court has said we're going to decide this. >> what about those who say the president now should just wait? is that an appro

. president obama twice before has made declarative statements about what he's not willing to do. and frankly, all we've heard from the white house is what they're not willing to do. so the president has signed the it tension of these rates in the past. i think the underreported story in all of this drama are senate democrats that are wringing their hands and avoiding eye contact. >> mcconnell would have produce the brought it up not just as an amendment. >> we're too busy today, forget it. >> they can't pass it in their own house. >> so here is the question. the operative question is does this administration really want to take to us $22 trillion? is that really where they want to go? because that's the pathway. and if they do, aren't we better to deal with this right now? this doesn't get any better the longer we wait. when you have the speaker saying we're willing to move, our movement is to put revenue on the table -- >> are you saying a bucket of crazy is better than the long term implications? >> that's what the country is dealing with. neither are things you want to embrace because the

it can happen. >> president obama and speaker boehner sit down at the white house. >> their first one on one in three weeks. >> the heavy lifting is going to have to happen this week. >> if this week goes bad -- >> this week is going to be a critical week. >> even if the speaker and president are cuddling in the lincoln bedroom -- >> i think everybody needs to cool their jets. >> that's not going to get us a deal. >> raising taxes will hurt the economy. >> your stuff stinks. we don't want it. >> if anybody out there who is, quote, rich doesn't think that their taxes go up, drink are on me. >> republicans are totally over the barrel. >> raising tax rates will hurt the economy. >> we'll push it all the way to the senate and then we'll lose. >>> with 22 days until we take that first step off the fiscal curb, president obama traveled to michigan to keep the pressure on republicans in congress. >> if congress doesn't act soon, meaning in the next few weeks, starting on january 1st, everybody's going to see their income taxes go up. it's true. y'all don't like that, huh? >> no. >> we ca

coming up later this hour. we'll start in washington. president obama, speaker boehner met face-to-face over the weekend to talk some fiscal cliff. our john harwood is live at the white house with more on that. john, good morning. >> good morning, carl. you know the president's been very clear since the election that republicans need to give on taxes for people at the top and not just on revenues, but also on tax rates because he says the math can't work otherwise. we've seen some signs of cracking in the republican unity. that suggests we may be getting to the next phase of negotiations. the latest sign was possible corker, the senator from tennessee, who was on our air just a few minutes ago, as you know, saying republicans should concede ground on top tax rates and then get on to other issues. >> the best place for republicans to be, to me, is to pass the rate of rate increases, be done with it, the numbers aprobably much smaller than is going to ultimately be negotiated, and then we still are focused on the right thing, which is entitlement changes. >> and that may be what john

cliff? well, president obama and speaker boehner met one on one at the white house last night. it was the first time in almost a month. neither side is talking about what happened. but today president obama continues his public campaign to pressure republicans to give on taxes. later this afternoon, he'll head to michigan to talk to auto workers outside a plant in detroit. >>> if you listen to the sunday shows, seems like some republicans are willing to give in on taxes to get where they want to go. entitlements. >> there is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end. i mean, we have one house. that's it. the presidency and the senate is in the democrats' hands. a lot of people are putting forth a theory. i actually think it has merit. where you go ahead and give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about. the rate increase on the top 2%. and all of a sudden the shift goes back to entitlements. >> let me bring in "washington post" columnist danny milbank and "usa today"

. that's what we keep waiting to hear between the two principles in the matter, president obama and john boehner. we have not seen movement today or this weekend. >> mike viqueira at the white house. thank you. >>> new today, leaders from both sides agreeing the best option is to avoid the fiscal cliff. they can't agree on which path to take to get there. >>> i don't think republicans or americans want to raise any taxes just to continue this spending in washington. they want a more efficient and more accountable. what we are saying is we need to do what ronald reagan did with tip o'neill, show the leadership to get in the room. same as bill clinton did with newt gingrich. get in the room and make the changes that are needed. >> the president wants to solve the problem. it's what he said in the campaign. it's what he's saying now. we cannot lurch from one crisis to the other. think of all the times tea party republicans and speaker boehner threatened to shut down the government over the debt ceiling. listen, if we are going to have this certainty for businesses to invest and know new job

believe president obama, the white house, congressional democrats, want to go over the fiscal cliff because they believe that it is more politically advantageous for them to do so. is that a sentiment you agree with or not? >> i believe that the president and the democrats see a political victory at the bottom of the fiscal cliff. i see financial problems for our country at the bottom of the fiscal cliff with unemployment over 9%, and another recession. i think -- i want to find a solution working with people on both sides of the aisle but when you have howard dean, the former chairman of the democratic national committee, you have patty murray, who ran the democratic senatorial committee encouraging going over the cliff i think it's irresponsible. i think we ought to have the president sitting down with john boehner, finding solutions that can, one, pass the house, and, two, be signed by the president, and i believe if you find that solution, it will pass the senate. >> senator john barrasso, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> next on "andrea mitchell reports" -- as the hous

? >> guest: that is accurate, but the fact that president obama, speaker boehner met at the white house sunday, they put out the same statement, they haven't said anything for two days. >> neil: speaker boehner did. he was griping about the president not giving specific on spending. nancy pelosi was saying, you know, boehner is wrong. >> you have to reach to find encouraging news right now. everybody thinks we are going to get together and not let the country go over the fiscal cliff, which, of course, in all common sense and sanity that's what we would do. we have to act. we're on automatic here. you know that. right now i can feel the contrary happening. in both caucuses and the senate, people are beginning to to the inside interest groups so the democrats say don't touch entitlement programs and republicans say i won't support -- >> neil: that's what i'm hearing. driving it further apart. >> yeah, you not going to make it happen that way. there is beginning to be -- there are two conspiracy theories now. one is that the leaders won't mind if the country goes over the cliff because th

, breaking news at this moment. john boehner is meeting with president obama at the white house. we have new signs today that the gop's support is crumbling. and they called it the crime of the century. five young men convicted of a heinous assault in new york's central park. the only problem sfwh they didn't do it. >>> once a juvenile is broken down, you can basically tell him anything. and, you know, they fed me the names. >> my interview with the central park five, a powerful story of injustice and fighting for what's right. you're watching po ining "polit nation" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. start saving at citi.com/pricerewind

members of congress or the white house. president obama right now is i think on the road in detroit. gave a speech today about the economy. but you're seeing a little bit less of the sort of back and fort we saw a weeking a with tim geithner putting out a plan and republicans releasing a letter publicly. i think negotiations of this kind best if they're happening without a lot of the public political posturing. i think that's the direction you have seen things go in the last few days so i'm hoping that's a good sign for things and taken seriously. >> i hope you're right. it is childish, i think. finally for you, gary. this ongoing battle blowing up between twitter, facebook, instagram, the big guys gunning for each other. what is going on here and how will it play out? >> let's go prop on you. this is the single most important thing and the thing we're attached to and the pictures are enormous. this battle is high stakes. big dollars. instagram is exploding. i think this is a really humongous uber battle and twitter with filters and insstgrams making pictures broken inside of twitte

, they need to start negotiating as a team with mr. obama and stop making premature concessions for the tv cameras that only make the white house less likely to meet them halfway. is that the net result, dana? >> well, it is a crisis. it's a manmade crisis. it's not like some meteor is headed towards the earth. they set it up this way so there will be these massive tax increases and massive spending cuts, so they do need to -- they have made it to they need to act. the question is do you need an even larger crisis? do you need the economy to be in free fall to get these guys to take some action? unfortunately given the past record, that can't be ruled out. >> yeah. when it comes to cuts, especially on medicare, that whole conversation has to be had. here's what dick durbin said on "meet the press." >> i do believe there should be means testing. those of us with higher income and retirement should pay more. that could be part of the solution. but when you talk about raising the medicare eligibility age there's one key question. what happens to that early retiree. ? what about that ga

. republicans have to stick together. they have to resist the pressure of the white house, and if obama wants to take them over a cliff and wants to inherit a new recession which will destroy his second term, i think they ought to say if that's what you want, mr. president, we'll just do it. >> well said as always. charles krauthammer, thanks so much for being with us. appreciate it. >> it's a pleasure. >>> coming up, jones makes a grand return and gloats about the victory in the election. his speech was nothing short of offensive. we'll play it for you. you'll hear the less than civil rhetoric being spewed by the former green jobs czar. the situation in syria has hit critical mass that president assad is ready to launch chemical weapons on his own people. president obama issued a warning to assad. to assad. will he stand by his own the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone...but her likes 50% more cash. but i'm upping my game. do you want a candy cane? yes! do you want the puppy? yes! do you want a tricycle? yes! do

. >> meanwhile, president obama and house speaker john boehner met sunday at the white house. the spokespeople for both men said they agreed not to release details or characterize the meeting. it was their first one-on-one meeting in 18 months as boehner spokesman michael steele says he is still waiting on a counteroffer from the president to last week's republican offer. in michigan today president obama said the house just needs to pass the bill already passed by the senate. >> congress lets middle class taxes go up, economists will tell you that means people will spend nearly $200 billion less than they otherwise would spend. consumer spending is going to go down. all congress needs to do is pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. >> president obama still has the american people firmly on his side. this is what the republicans don't get, apparently. 60% support raising taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year. this is why a republican congress tom cole said once again fellow republicans should pass a tax cut ex-suspensi

negotiations do continue, there was a meeting today between president obama and house speaker john boehner. that happened at the white house today, we are frying to get more details, we're trying to get our white house chief correspondent jessica yellin on the phone and when she gets more details we'll bring it to you. >>> do you really know how much the extra taxes are going to cost you? lisa sylvester does the math. >> reporter: at the whit low's on wilson restaurant in arlington, sa virginia there,'s plenty of food and drink, but there's something else cooking up. co-owner jonathan williams worrying about the government's fiscal cliff. >> there's a real correlation, people have jobs they spend money, if people are worried about losing their jobs, or don't have a job, they're not going to go out that much, they're going to cook at home or stay home. >> reporter: just a couple miles in the pentagon, many of the people here work directly for the defense department and it's contractors. the defense industry is facing $125 billion of direct -- in addition several key tax ben fis are

days with both sides staying mum on the details. this afternoon president obama's fiscal photo-op off the day takes him to the suburban home of a middle class families in virginia, one of the thousands who responded to the white house's hash tag campaign, all of this happen being as a new poll comes out showing that when it comes to who americans trust more on the fiscal crisis, it's a democratic blowout. 56% say they trust the president and the democrats to make a good faith effort to cooperate with republicans. 51% say republicans won't act in good faith. and a whopping 65% support higher taxes on households making more than $250,000 a year. perhaps knowing this, the administration is talking with a little more political swagger. treasury secretary tim geithner drawing another hard line in the sand in this interview with cnbc. >> when it comes to raising taxes on the wealthy, those making more than $250,000, if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> absolutely. again, there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't invol